A few days ago Tom Clemens stuck up for George McClellan during a Department of Defense lecture. Little Mac’s reputation, he argued, has suffered unfairly due to contemporary political meddling, unclear orders, and the towering stature of the men he opposed. The 150th anniversary of Antietam seems like a good opportunity for public historians and popular writers to offer people a more positive portrait of McClellan than they’ve been accustomed to, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

On a much weightier note, online forum users are discussing the only presidential ranking method that really counts: Which chief executive would prevail in a mass free-for-all knife fight? Jackson, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt are the obvious odds-on favorites. On the other hand, Washington was 6’2″, ripped, and long-limbed. I think he’d hold his own with the best of ‘em.